1979 Indy Pace Car "Project"
Discussion
So I was all full of good intentions, I was happy, I had my replacement mustang, "spanky" (see my other thread running in here), and life was good. And so I thought my life was complete, but in order to tell you this story I need to tell you another one.
A couple years back (2009) I owned 2 mustangs, a redfire 2004 v6, and a 1979 indiannapolis pace car 5.0 V8, and life was good, but my then girlfriend and I parted ways and I couldn't afford to run either Mustang, so in late 2009 I sold the pace car, and the v6 and purchased, a 2005 diesel Astra 1.7cdti (sporty non? non)
and my car life sucked, it's unescesarily loud, it's uncomfortable on long journeys, it's in constant need of f
king repair, all in all it's a pile of st. Which, however, I drove as a means to an end, and this past December, it seemed someone smiled on me as I picked up spanky for the whopping sum of £800, yes he's tatty, and he's never going to get the girls, but so fking what, he's mine and I love him (the kind of love a man has for a fine cuban cigar, hot the kind of love a man has for a voluptous pole dancing stripper named "kiki")
But something has been missing, there's been a hole, and last week browsign the Mustang owners' club forums, I found out what it was! I wanted my fking pace car back, and low and behold there was one on offer for a not unsubstantial £600, a bit of banter and I am now the proud owner of a 2.3 turbo 1979 Indiannapolis Pace Car, and as I was a club member and am intending to get it back ont he road I paid £500.
So last night we packed up the Vauxhall pickup, stocked up on burberry and headed to Essex!
And here she is, in all her Gold and black glory (not to everyones tast, but hey, fk you)
packing it up
Heading out
I'll get some more pictures up later, I'd have more but we only got back to Surrey at 11pm, turns out towing a heavy mustang has a detrimental effect on speed.
A couple years back (2009) I owned 2 mustangs, a redfire 2004 v6, and a 1979 indiannapolis pace car 5.0 V8, and life was good, but my then girlfriend and I parted ways and I couldn't afford to run either Mustang, so in late 2009 I sold the pace car, and the v6 and purchased, a 2005 diesel Astra 1.7cdti (sporty non? non)
and my car life sucked, it's unescesarily loud, it's uncomfortable on long journeys, it's in constant need of f
king repair, all in all it's a pile of st. Which, however, I drove as a means to an end, and this past December, it seemed someone smiled on me as I picked up spanky for the whopping sum of £800, yes he's tatty, and he's never going to get the girls, but so fking what, he's mine and I love him (the kind of love a man has for a fine cuban cigar, hot the kind of love a man has for a voluptous pole dancing stripper named "kiki")But something has been missing, there's been a hole, and last week browsign the Mustang owners' club forums, I found out what it was! I wanted my f
king pace car back, and low and behold there was one on offer for a not unsubstantial £600, a bit of banter and I am now the proud owner of a 2.3 turbo 1979 Indiannapolis Pace Car, and as I was a club member and am intending to get it back ont he road I paid £500.So last night we packed up the Vauxhall pickup, stocked up on burberry and headed to Essex!
And here she is, in all her Gold and black glory (not to everyones tast, but hey, f
k you)packing it up
Heading out
I'll get some more pictures up later, I'd have more but we only got back to Surrey at 11pm, turns out towing a heavy mustang has a detrimental effect on speed.
Well this weekend we tried to put a dent in the pace car to do list, unfortunately we came across a few gremlins but any progress is good.
The first order of the day was to fill her up with water and see if we had any leaks, which we did, the water pump gasket appears to have gone, so a new gasket and water pump are on order, while we were doign that we removed the thermostat who's gasket appears to have been made out of bluetac, so that is another gasket on order.
After that we decided to tackle the brake lines and clutch, the clutch cable is a little odd a there appears to be a spring missing or not installed properly (I need to dig through the bags of parts I have as I'm sure it must be in there) as the peddle just falls to the floor when pressed.
The brake lines threw up probably the most awkward problem, it would appear that at some point in the past someone decided to run braided hoses which in itself isn't a bad thing, however, they removed the stock fittings on the brake line and replaced it with a metric fitting so the original brake lines I have dont fit.
We had some joy fitting the sunroof drains and these now poke out the bottom of the car away from the body work so they aren't draining through the sills.
We also managed to get her fired up and run for a few seconds so we know that once the minor issues are out the way she should run pretty good.
Here's how she's looking at the moment:
And the engine bay:
The first order of the day was to fill her up with water and see if we had any leaks, which we did, the water pump gasket appears to have gone, so a new gasket and water pump are on order, while we were doign that we removed the thermostat who's gasket appears to have been made out of bluetac, so that is another gasket on order.
After that we decided to tackle the brake lines and clutch, the clutch cable is a little odd a there appears to be a spring missing or not installed properly (I need to dig through the bags of parts I have as I'm sure it must be in there) as the peddle just falls to the floor when pressed.
The brake lines threw up probably the most awkward problem, it would appear that at some point in the past someone decided to run braided hoses which in itself isn't a bad thing, however, they removed the stock fittings on the brake line and replaced it with a metric fitting so the original brake lines I have dont fit.
We had some joy fitting the sunroof drains and these now poke out the bottom of the car away from the body work so they aren't draining through the sills.
We also managed to get her fired up and run for a few seconds so we know that once the minor issues are out the way she should run pretty good.
Here's how she's looking at the moment:
And the engine bay:
Edited by Sushi on Saturday 30th July 19:43
Connected up the fuel hoses and tested the water system today, cut the front brake lines and installed the new connectors. As we were bleeding the system we realised there were no rear lines installed, so back to rock auto for some more parts, hopefully they can have them here by Wednesday.
Anyways, took a video of us firing her up, had to jump her as the battery is shot. She needs tuning and timing sorted so I'll try and arrange for that to get sorted soon.
http://s954.photobucket.com/albums/ae26/yosushi/79...
Anyways, took a video of us firing her up, had to jump her as the battery is shot. She needs tuning and timing sorted so I'll try and arrange for that to get sorted soon.
http://s954.photobucket.com/albums/ae26/yosushi/79...
Well, it's been a while since I updated this, not sure why as we've made strides of progress over the last month.
The car now runs, the carb and timing have been set, the ignition timing was way off which is why it never idled properly. The car now also moves under its own power (in at least 2 gears anyways), we have first and reverse, which is two more gears than it turned up with.
The car is currently at Surrey Mustang getting a final overhaul before its MOT, it needs a spanner check as a lot of the more crucial bolts were only done up finger tight. It has a small oil leak and the electricals need checking. I'm also having the heater matrix serviced and the power stearing connected up.
all told we should be ready to drive it by the end of the month.
I'll update with some more pictures as soon as I get it back from MOT.
The car now runs, the carb and timing have been set, the ignition timing was way off which is why it never idled properly. The car now also moves under its own power (in at least 2 gears anyways), we have first and reverse, which is two more gears than it turned up with.
The car is currently at Surrey Mustang getting a final overhaul before its MOT, it needs a spanner check as a lot of the more crucial bolts were only done up finger tight. It has a small oil leak and the electricals need checking. I'm also having the heater matrix serviced and the power stearing connected up.
all told we should be ready to drive it by the end of the month.
I'll update with some more pictures as soon as I get it back from MOT.
Bugger!
This is the mail I recieved a few weeks ago from Trevor at Surrey Mustang, not the best way to start the day:
Took the car in for MOT yesterday, and I'm afraid the news is not good.
We knew the engine smoked a bit on start-up, but after running for 20+ minutes on the MOT ramp the smoke got worse to a point where we had to abandon the test.
There is also steam and water coming from the exhaust, and what sounds like a small-end bearing knock when the engine is at operating temperature.
I suspect the turbo seals have deteriorated which is allowing oil to burn off in the exhaust, so the turbo will need rebuilding. There is also a possibility that the piston rings are not sealing/worn which would also give the same smoking problem.
The steam and water coming from the exhaust indicates there is probably a head gasket problem, and even if we repair the turbo and head gasket I'm afraid (due to the knock that is already evident) the engine internals will not last long under any boost levels.
My recommendation would be to source a complete replacement engine/turbo (or V8 & 'box) as to rebuild what you have will end up costing literally £1,000's
Well every cloud (and apparently this made a lot of cloud) and all, I've now sourced the motor transmition and ancilliaries from this little fella (1986 ford mercury capri, the last of the carbed V8 run, it has 210bhp and approximately 285 lb-ft of torque)
The donor car is scheduled to hit the UK at the end of December and I'm hoping to have all the work done in time for Wheels day next year (hopefully ready by February but Wheels day is the deadline)
This is the mail I recieved a few weeks ago from Trevor at Surrey Mustang, not the best way to start the day:
Took the car in for MOT yesterday, and I'm afraid the news is not good.
We knew the engine smoked a bit on start-up, but after running for 20+ minutes on the MOT ramp the smoke got worse to a point where we had to abandon the test.
There is also steam and water coming from the exhaust, and what sounds like a small-end bearing knock when the engine is at operating temperature.
I suspect the turbo seals have deteriorated which is allowing oil to burn off in the exhaust, so the turbo will need rebuilding. There is also a possibility that the piston rings are not sealing/worn which would also give the same smoking problem.
The steam and water coming from the exhaust indicates there is probably a head gasket problem, and even if we repair the turbo and head gasket I'm afraid (due to the knock that is already evident) the engine internals will not last long under any boost levels.
My recommendation would be to source a complete replacement engine/turbo (or V8 & 'box) as to rebuild what you have will end up costing literally £1,000's
Well every cloud (and apparently this made a lot of cloud) and all, I've now sourced the motor transmition and ancilliaries from this little fella (1986 ford mercury capri, the last of the carbed V8 run, it has 210bhp and approximately 285 lb-ft of torque)
The donor car is scheduled to hit the UK at the end of December and I'm hoping to have all the work done in time for Wheels day next year (hopefully ready by February but Wheels day is the deadline)
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